"The Yips" (How I Met Your Mother)
The gang joins a gym. Barney suffers a loss of confidence after learning that the woman he lost his virginity to wasn't as impressed as he thought. Recap The gang decides to get in shape and everyone joins Barney's gym, Total Rip Fitness. Barney is shocked to see that the woman working at the gym's smoothie bar is Rhonda, the woman to whom Barney lost his virginity. Barney has a flashback to when, fresh from his break-up with long-term girlfriend Shannon, his brother James (who was "not yip yet") set him up with his mother's friend, Rhonda "The Manmaker" French, who told Barney that he "rocked her world," boosting Barney's confidence. Later, Rhonda tells Barney that James convinced her to tell him that he was her best ever, and Rhonda only agreed to it because James slept with her - Rhonda doesn't even remember Barney's name (she calls him Barry). Barney decides to get over it by going to the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show after-party with Ted and Marshall, where all of Barney's pick-up lines become vulgar and fall flat. Barney realizes he has the yips - he is over thinking hitting on girls to the point where he can't do it any more. Heidi Klum convinces him to go back to Rhonda and try again to regain his confidence. She rejects him at first, but after Ted talks to her at the bar, she invites him over to play cards, which quickly turns into yip. Rhonda insists that it really WAS the best she ever had this time, while Barney agrees in monotone, clearly having gained his confidence back. Marshall is having a much harder time at the gym than anticipated. Although his trainer is a cute girl, she drives him very hard, making him do hundreds of push-ups and making him cry with only her words. Lily gets a very muscular trainer who is helping her with flexibility, but it turns out, is completely unaffiliated with the gym. Robin enjoys the gym because she doesn't have to wear a cute outfit and can work out uninhibitedly. Ted seems to always find a reason to avoid working out (i.e. bringing the wrong shorts), but after Marshall passes his trainer on to him, he gets what he paid for. Although everyone agrees joining the gym was a great decision, Future Ted's voice-over reveals that, after that first week, they never went back. Continuity * While suffering from the yips, Barney does not suit up. * Barney tells Ted "Just... O.K.?", the first time he uses this catchphrase. * Barney's "yip" days, including his being devastated by his college girlfriend Shannon breaking up with him, were first brought up in Yip Night. * When Barney tells the gang that James was the person in his life who knew the most about women, he explains that it was "before he was yip". He mentions James' "yip college phase" in the flashforward to James' wedding in Single Stamina. * Barney tells the gang about losing his virginity to Rhonda in First Time In New York, where he also mentioned her calling him Barry and smoking menthol cigarettes. * Another older woman criticizes Barney's yip performance in Aldrin Justice. Future References (Contains Yips) * Barney tells Rhonda that he once met Madeleine Albright and did not "intend to hit that". His hook-up with Albright is referenced again in The Bracket, Benefits, and Unpause, where it is revealed that it didn't happen when she was Secretary of State, and that he also slept with another US Secretary of State, presumably either Condoleezza Rice or Hillary Clinton. * Total Rip Fitness appears in Right Place, Right Time. * In the scene with Barney and James sitting in the dorm room, there is a glass of green liquid which surprisingly looks like the Yips Fixure Elixer contoction mentioned in the last season. A dead give away is it is next to a bowl of cheese snacks, one of the secret ingredients. Memorable Quotes Notes and Trivia Goofs and Errors *In this episode Barney's mom is called Patty (by Rhonda French), however in The Yips Barney introduces his mother to the group as Loretta. However, Patty may be a nickname for Loretta. *In this episode at the gym, Robin claims she enjoys gyms because she doesn't need to wear makeup. The group proceeds to make fun of her about it, Barney even acting like he has no clue who she is. But, in the episode Moving Yip, Robin states that she's not wearing make-up, with Barney proceeding to say "Yip, you're yip." However, Barney may be making fun of Robin at the gym also for her unattractive clothing and messy hair. *In the first episode when Barney's yippie days are shown, it is shown that he immediately cuts his hair after breaking up with Shannon. In this episode, when he loses his virginity, it is shown that he still has long hair. **However, given Barney's frequent tendency to distort the truth and his long term revenge scheme eventually revealed in Unpause, this story being incompatible with the first story of his and Shannon's breakup isn't necessarily an error. *When Barney, Ted and Marshall enter the Victoria's Secret after party, all three of them are about to approach Adriana Lima. In the next shot as they actually approach her, Marshall isn't there anymore, and he isn't to be seen throughout the party. *In the scene where Lily is going to fire Marshall's trainer, Ted moves Marshall's beer closer to him, however, in the next shot as Lilly is talking to the trainer, the beer is where it was before. Same thing goes when Marshall looks excited for that one second. After that shot, the beer is where Ted had moved it before hand. Allusions and Outside References *In the scene of Victoria's Secret after party, the television on the back is playing the 2006 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show. Music Other Notes Guests *Wayne Brady - James Stinson * - Rhonda French *Meredith Roberts - Trish *Heidi Klum - Herself * - Herself * - Herself * - Herself * - Herself * - Herself *Michael 'Mick' Harrity - Max * - Becky *Lyndsy Fonseca - Daughter *David Henrie - Son * - Younger Barney *Katie Walder - Shannon (flashback) * - Greg (flashback) Reception * Omar G at gave the episode a B-. * Donna Bowman of gave the episode a B+. * Michelle Zoromski of gave the episode 7.8 out of 10. * The St. Petersburg Comic Review gave this episode 6 out of 10 stars. "Even Heidi Klum couldn't get Barney back on track!"